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✦ FeaturedI played the economic simulator that could 'make a convert out of Karl Marx himself' to see if it could convert me
Though I'm not Karl Marx, just in case you're confused.

Marvel Tōkon's simple but effective combo trials are an elegant tutorial solution that I wish more fighting games had

Ron Gilbert Says Making Another 'Monkey Island' Game Would Be "Really Complicated"

The Quake community simply cannot stop delivering, having just released a 22-map 'Deathmatch Jam' to celebrate the shooter's 30th birthday
☁ Xbox, pc News
354 articles
GameSir T7 Pro Sugar Whirl review
Not quite the sweetest of treats.

Ignore Your Growing Backlog–It’s Time To Play South Of Midnight On Steam
Look, it's no surprise to anyone for me to admit that I like South of Midnight(https://www.gamespot.com/games/south-of-midnight/). I've written about it being a love letter to the American Deep South(https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/south-of-midnight-review-a-love-letter-to-the-american-deep-south/1900-6418352/), noted how it was one of the best Xbox games of 2025(https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/the-best-xbox-exclusive-games-of-2025/2900-7325/2), and talked about how much the game's story, characters, and setting have meant to me on video podcasts for both GameSpot(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=815z1trpMdQ) and IGN(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnkSABRc3EI). I want everyone to play this game, and there's never been a better time to do so on Steam(https://store.steampowered.com/app/1934570/SouthofMidnight/). As noticed by Respec(https://www.respec.net/news/151-south-of-midnight-self-published-steam-compulsion-games-xbox), Xbox is no longer listed as the publisher for South of Midnight on Steam. Instead, the game is noted as being self-published by Compulsion Games, reflecting the studio's independence following another round of severe layoffs and restructuring from Xbox(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-layoffs-studio-closures-and-spin-offs-everything-announced-today/). While Compulsion Games hasn't confirmed whether this is the case--who knows what type of strange and awful backroom clauses might be in place to ensure Xbox keeps getting a slice of this particular pie--this does seem to indicate that all future sales of South of Midnight on Steam will benefit Compulsion, not Compulsion and Xbox. So if you want to play South of Midnight, but you were concerned about continuing to line Xbox's pockets, this seems like the golden opportunity to finally give the action-adventure platformer a go. And you should play it! The game is so good! South of Midnight's selling point is certainly its atmosphere. The sound design and orchestral score(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/south-of-midnights-music-transforms-trauma-into-a-soundtrack/1100-6537016/) are tied into the gameplay and story to put you right into the midst of its gothic fantasy, transforming the trauma of a resilient and multifaceted culture into the backbone of one of the most affecting video games I've ever played. Its combat and platforming aren't exactly wow-worthy, leaning on tried-and-true PlayStation 2-era mechanics without pushing them forward in any meaningful way, but those shortcomings are overshadowed by memorable characters, catchy tunes, and incredible visuals. Like I said in my South of Midnight review(https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/south-of-midnight-review-a-love-letter-to-the-american-deep-south/1900-6418352/), "Compulsion Games hasn’t made a direct sequel to any of its games yet, but it needs to make an exception here." South of Midnight is just that great. Compulsion Games has a real winner here, and you should support the studio by buying and playing South of Midnight, and then joining me in celebrating this gaming accomplishment.

Redditor buys what looks to be a prototype for unreleased Xbox Elite Series 3 controller, posts about it on Reddit, then the thread goes dark
Looks suspiciously similar to controller leaked back in May.

Xbox's CEO teased that she's seen The Elder Scrolls 6, so now we have to guess what it's called
Is it eight letters, or was this just a big distraction?

Halo: Campaign Evolved’s Biggest Competition Might Be Halo
Halo Campaign Evolved(https://www.gamespot.com/games/halo-campaign-evolved/) is a celebration of the franchise, but not many people are attending that party. New estimates peg sales at 1.2 million copies sold across PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 so far, around $67 million in revenue, which isn't the best start for this remake of the original Halo campaign. Also available via Xbox Game Pass, the game is estimated to have 2.1 million players through the subscription service. According to Alinea Analytics' head of market analysis, Rhys Elliott(https://alineaanalytics.substack.com/), there are several reasons for this. Sales are split almost down the middle between Xbox Series X|S and PS5 at 42% and 41%, respectively, while Steam accounts for 17% of sales. This is up from its launch-week sales(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-on-ps5-is-off-to-a-slow-start-expert-says/), but not by much. So what's the reason behind the lukewarm sales of the classic first-person shooter, which has gotten a new coat of paint and some fine-tuning under the gameplay hood? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LimYD3Ycwo As Elliott noted, Halo: Campaign Evolved's biggest competition on PC might be another Halo--specifically, Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The Halo game compilation offers better value for money and includes Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, a 2015 remake that's pretty solid in its own right. Throw in options for multiplayer and more Halo games to the mix, and the $40 price tag makes it a much more tempting offer compared to the $50 required for Halo: Campaign Evolved, which is more barebones in comparison. Shinier graphics, extra co-op missions, and the ability to sprint in that game just aren't enough, it seems. "The price is too high for a port like this one, and the Halo brand--candidly--has lost a lot of cache, Elliot wrote(https://x.com/superhys/status/2087224210296893632). "A lot of Steam users already own Master Chief Collection--8.5 million copies sold on Steam, as per our estimates--which offers more content for less. On PS5, Halo: Campaign Evolved is estimated to have sold 544,000 copies so far, neck and neck with Xbox despite the Sony platform having a larger userbase than its Microsoft rival. Elliot explained that while plenty of PS5 owners jumped in thanks to the nostalgia factor of Halo, sales were driven by an "older, nostalgia-driven crowd" that encompasses players who are roughly 32-40 years old. Many of these people were likely former Xbox 360 owners who had since moved to PlayStation hardware, but the game didn't make a big dent with a "fresh" PlayStation audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woUnTCVv9JU Shooters, remakes, and legacy-leaning titles still sell well on the platform, as the audience overlap skews heavily toward the late PS2, Xbox 360, and early PS4 eras, Elliot explained. While Halo: Campaign Evolved didn't achieve the same velocity as several other Xbox ports did on PlayStation, bringing the Master Chief Collection with its multiplayer suite to that platform would have "certainly" done better, Elliot wrote. "At the very least, if the rumored Halo 2 remake ships with online multiplayer, it’ll sell a great deal more, assuming it comes to PlayStation at all." The co-creator of Halo and designer of Master Chief, Marcus Lehto, also shared his opinion on the remake recently, saying that he has a few issues(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-co-creator-calls-out-remake-for-pandering-to-new-era-of-players-with-0-attention-span/) with it but is generally happy with how it came out. Following the final update for Halo: Infinite(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-infinites-last-update-arrives-this-month-as-devs-move-to-other-halo-projects/1100-6536070/) in November 2025, Halo Studios has now begun work on new Halo projects.

id Software dev says mass layoffs like Microsoft's are weakening the games industry, because developers 'don't have the incentive to care anymore'
"A lot of gamers, even if they don't know it, they can feel it's not right. There's something wrong."

Dev at id Software says Microsoft 'burned a lot of bridges' in the industry: 'They fundamentally don't understand art, they don't understand games'
"The way they align their spreadsheets for their financial reports—is not the way we used to do it."

Australians must now prove their age to buy R18+ games on the Xbox store
Microsoft is the first among major games platforms to implement stricter age verification.

Blizzard is now reportedly Microsoft's top studio, according to leaked email
"This past year has marked our third highest fiscal for top line revenue in Blizzard's history."

Resident Evil Meets Papers Please in a Wild New Xbox Game Pass Offering
Quarantine Zone combines the zombie-apocalypse vibes of The Last of Us with bureaucratic drudgery

New Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Gameplay Trailer Highlights One Of Its Most Treacherous Boss Fights
!Onimusha Way of the Sword Capcom Release Date September 2026 Game Informer Cover Story(https://gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/bodydefault/public/2026/08/06/064a1617/onimushayasui2.jpg.webp) Onimusha: Way of the Sword(https://gameinformer.com/product/onimusha-way-of-the-sword) launches next month on September 4(https://gameinformer.com/2026/07/02/onimusha-way-of-the-sword-will-now-launch-three-weeks-earlier) on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via the Epic Games Store and Steam. It will mark the first game in Capcom's samurai action series in 20 years(https://gameinformer.com/exclusive-interview/2026/07/21/why-2026-was-the-year-to-bring-onimusha-back-after-a-20-year-gap), and brings players to real-life locations in Kyoto(https://gameinformer.com/exclusive-interview/2026/07/22/why-kyoto-was-the-perfect-setting-for-onimusha-way-of-the-sword), albeit through the lens of Japan's early Edo period. A new trailer released by Capcom today features some of that Kyoto, as well as new gameplay footage highlighting a boss fight against the treacherous Rasho-gan. If you're a Game Informer subscriber, you likely already know that Onimusha: Way of the Sword(https://gameinformer.com/Onimusha) is the latest game to grace the cover of our magazine(https://gameinformer.com/cover-reveal/2026/07/21/cover-reveal-onimusha-way-of-the-sword). That means that you have access to my Onimusha: Way of the Sword cover story(https://gameinformer.com/feature/2026/07/21/the-return-of-onimusha), which features all kinds of details about Kyoto as the game's setting, combat(https://gameinformer.com/exclusive-feature/2026/08/05/how-capcom-reinvented-and-updated-onimushas-combat-in-way-of-the-sword), a never-before-seen underground lab starring the evil Dokyo, and Rasho-gan. That said, today's new Onimusha: Way of the Sword trailer features a new gameplay look at protagonist Miyamoto Musashi's swordsman prowess(https://gameinformer.com/exclusive-interview/2026/07/23/how-capcom-decided-on-miyamoto-musashi-for-its-onimusha-way-of-the) against Rasho-gan. Check it out for yourself below: If you're looking for more Onimusha: Way of the Sword content, look no further than Game Informer's exclusive hub for the game(https://gameinformer.com/Onimusha), where you'll find behind-the-scenes features, interviews, videos, and more. What do you think of this new gameplay trailer? Let us know in the comments below!

Halo On PS5 Is Off To A Slow Start, Expert Says
For the first time ever, a Halo game is available on PlayStation with Halo: Campaign Evolved. The game is having a "notably slow start" on Sony's console in terms of sales, however, according to gaming analyst Rhys Elliott(https://alineaanalytics.substack.com/p/julys-top-playstation-games-by-copies). He estimated that Campaign Evolved sold 351,000 copies on PS5 during July and 452,000 to date, generating nearly $28 million. By comparison, Elliott said Campaign Evolved has shifted 212,000 units on Steam and about 900,000 on Xbox across console and PC thus far. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LimYD3Ycwo The analyst said the game's price point--$50--was partly to blame. "Fifty dollars for what’s essentially a graphical touch-up of a 2001 game was always going to be a hard sell, and players clearly weren’t having it," he said. Beyond graphical improvements, Campaign Evolved also features three new prequel missions via the Operation Meteorite story arc. Multiplayer is what Halo is perhaps best known for, but Campaign Evolved--as its name suggests--does not feature multiplayer support. Also in his comments, Elliott said the slow start for Halo on PS5 "stings even more" when compared to the success of the Black Ops 1 and 2 ports on PlayStation. Those games reportedly combined to sell more than 11 million units(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/black-ops-1-and-2-ports-sold-11-million-copies-combined-on-playstation-benefitting-both-xbox-and-sony/), generating hundreds of millions of dollars. Elliott went on to lament the slowing sales and diminishing profile of Halo as a franchise in general after the series peaked with Halo 3 and Halo: Reach years ago. "One can’t help wondering what could have been if Halo had kept the trajectory it had around Halo 3 and Reach. A remake of the game that started it all landing this softly on a new platform makes me pretty sad, as a Halo fan," he wrote. There are more Halo games in development, including one that's been described as "like Fortnite"(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/next-halo-game-may-be-like-fortnite-with-live-service-report/1100-6535547/) with regards to its live-service approach. Developer Halo Studios has said future Halo games will also be on PlayStation(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/halo-games-will-be-on-playstation-going-forward-says-microsoft/1100-6535712/), but those comments came before Asha Sharma became Xbox CEO and pledged to release more exclusive games for Xbox(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-clarifies-its-exclusivity-strategy-moving-forward-wants-you-to-buy-an-xbox/).